B2 Hotel Zurich

Beds have replaced brews at the new Bookmark B2 Hotel & Spa in Zurich. Housed in the grand 1867 Hürlimann Brewery, once Switzerland’s largest beer producer, the former mash house is now a crash house, and the cold storage has been fully converted into spacious suites. Massive beer-bottle chandeliers light up the Library Lounge, and a different kind of suds fill the barreling room, which has been transformed into a luxe spa.

They don’t make buildings like this anymore. Light pours in through arched windows and the lobby ceilings are so high you could bungee-jump off them. Plus, the thick floors and unyielding walls would probably withstand missile strikes. Not that anyone’s worried – after all, this is neutral Switzerland.

Like a perfectly poured pint of beer, the rooms are classically minimalist, with touches of upscale bachelor pad: leather club chairs, blond wood, ample workspaces, and onion-dome black lamps that look right out of the MoMA design store. The bathrooms are a playful mix of old and new, with sleek glass, but also oiled oak paneling that’s a nod to the brewery’s past.

In fact, the designers have incorporated the brewery’s original materials throughout. In the spa, the massive soaking tubs are constructed of larch wood, reminiscent of beer barrels, where you can float amid a monastic stillness, framed by stone arches. But the real dazzler is the Library Lounge – if the rest of the hotel is the backup singers, the lounge is Beyoncé, strutting on stage in mile-high boots. The stats pretty much sum it up: ceilings that reach up to 10 meters, 33,000 books (real ones, that guests can borrow), and windows that you’d see in a cathedral. It’s here that you’ll understand Bookmark Hotel’s motto: Hotels with (his)tory.

The brewery may no longer distill beer, but they sure do pour it. Hürlimann beer is served all day long, which is music to the ears of the Google guys, who have posted up their new engineering headquarters next door. The Hürlimann complex has quickly become hitter city, with other multinational companies moving in.

And while it may be lonely at the top, the views aren’t at all shabby from the rooftop pool. It’s here where you can test your multilingual flirting skills with Heidi-lookalikes. Hallo, fraulein.